


Let Go

by StronkThonks



Category: Freedom Planet (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StronkThonks/pseuds/StronkThonks
Summary: Being eager to impress has its costs.After going off the deep end, Carol gets more than she bargained for after confessing to Lilac that she wants to learn how to swim.
Relationships: Sash Lilac/Carol Tea
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> Ahoy there, my three readers!
> 
> Since Between Us is due for a rewrite, I thought I'd give you somethin' to look at in the meantime. Stay cool!

Carol isn’t ready to go.

But the surrounding darkness didn’t listen.

Writhing, frantic motions only strengthened its despairing grasp. Black, deformed shadows from above revealed painful shapes and movements from the girl who thought she could do anything – and not one ear to detect her muffled cries for help. However, a secret comfort remained. The kind of comfort you’d get when you won’t have to explain anything when they find you.

Because you won’t be alive.

Something to grab onto mocked her with its cruel absence.

As time wore on, squirms wore her down. Lifting one finger would make her entire arm feel numb. Finally, her body faded into a limp dangle. The last clenched muscles in her exasperated face slipped into a cold frown.

No more futile resistance.

No more trying to breathe.

No more.

…but miraculously, almost as quickly as her body sank, her limp weakened body began to rise. She soared to the top of the lake, her helpless arms and legs dangling behind her torso. She did naught but keep herself steady.

Let this miracle happen.

Breaching the surface, Carol climbed the dock’s protruding ladder like a squirrel on a fence when it came to her rescue. Questions without answers jet around her mind, like shaking a cardboard box full of marbles. Carol was too busy inexplicably surviving to realize that all her muscles had to do to float… was let go.

Once her dizziness subsided, she could take a seat on the wood below. The moss squelched like a sponge as she rested her bottom. The dock gave her an expansive view of the lake as the sunset painted the water bright orange. The light fawningly illuminated her only company, Lilac, who was swimming thirty feet away. Lilac’s movements, form, and her rhythm. It was mesmerizing.

As if Carol's mind wasn't already full of distracting thoughts.

The girl’s arms and legs pushed adeptly through each wave, while the water remained still, hushed, and serene. Carol could trick her eyes into believing there wasn’t anyone in the water at all by looking at how still the surrounding ripples were. The girl pranced from above and below with a face that welcomed cheeky grin after cheeky grin. Her back slowly eased into the water, welcoming its warm, shimmering surface once more. Watching Lilac swim was making Carol hear music, and not an orchestra or instrument in sight.

“Isn’t this great, Carol?” A wishful voice paused the song playing in Carol’s head.

She… she could TALK while doing all this?

“…The sunset is beautiful tonight, and the water’s pretty clear, too!” Lilac continued, speaking towards the glistening sky.

Carol used her towel to hide both her shame, and to mute the coughs she needed to assemble a reply. Her mind shot blank after blank before she could finally muster a response.

“Y-yeah. Sure is.”

Need. Excuse. Now. It didn’t matter how half-baked it was.

“You look like you’re having fun. Why don’t I just head back to home base and leave you to it?”

Her meek voice failed to beckon an immediate response so Carol cleared her throat and repeated it louder.

“Why don’t I head back?” Carol shouted.

The sunlight didn’t capture Carol’s figure on the dock, it shone only on the middle of the lake. But Lilac could still tell she wasn’t in the water.

“Carol? Is that you up there?” Lilac glided towards the dock’s ladder with a hand on her forehead. “I thought I heard someone say they wanted to go home.” Slapped on her face was a cheerful, sideways grin.

“What’s the matter, water in your ears?” Lilac jested. Words from Lilac’s mouth shot pins and needles from Carol’s head to toe, making her stumble before she stood in anxious defiance.

“This just isn’t the right day. A professional like me can’t swim in these conditions!” Carol coughed, “Maybe if we came back tomorrow-”

Lilac pouted, “Today’s… the longest day of summer; the hottest day of the year…” A hint of concern drew her lips sideways, “…you knew that, right?”

“Well, maybe we should wait another twelve months for the next one, huh?” Carol spat.

“How long are you prepared to put this off?” Lilac bubbled, mouth partially submerged.

“Put off time with my best friend?” Carol gasped, “Why, I’d never!”

The hiss on her last syllable welcomed a crimson layer of anger on Carol’s cheeks. Despite being in her usual flavor of sarcasm, her words still took Lilac by surprise.

“I… look, I’m just not feeling it. I don’t _have_ to be in the mood for swimming all the time. What if I just wanna watch the sunset?”

“Watch the sunset? _You?_ ” Lilac didn’t know whether to laugh or to let herself be completely dumbfounded. Ultimately, her uneasy expression returned and tightened around the edges of her face.

“I just don’t wanna swim today, alright?”

Carol’s towel squelched under her quick grasp before she meekly whipped it onto her left shoulder. She wanted to move far enough away so only the squeals of the wood from underneath would be all she could hear. At least she bought herself some time. But before she could somberly trudge onto dry land, an abrupt, predictable hand on her right shoulder furrowed her brow once more.

“Hey.”

Carol didn’t know why she turned around so fast. She wasn’t completely sure if she wanted whatever was about to happen to be over as soon as possible.

“You okay?” Lilac turned her head downward to meet Carol’s pouting level.

“I’m… fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Carol.”

“What?”

“You can’t hide stuff from me.” Lilac’s concern grew steadily, “I want you to know that I-”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Carol insistently grumbled. Her voice, eerily passive.

“Come on…” Lilac pleaded, “Humor me.”

Carol grit her teeth before fury painted her cheeks red once more.

“Well, duh! Of course I’m hiding something from you!” Carol interjected, “Ooh, poor Carol is too tired to travel thirty miles to a secluded lake! Gee, I wonder if maybe Carol got out of the wrong side of the bed, and maybe that’s why she isn’t treading water today. That would totally explain everything!”

Before she knew it, Carol’s eyes became puffy and bloodshot. The cause? Not the lake water this time.

“…because I totally wasn’t looking forward to spending time with you or anything!” She balled her fist, “Not one minute!”

“Carol, please!”

“Please what, Lilac? Please say it? Oh, I’ll say it alright. I can’t swim! And I never learned how! Why don’t you keep fawning over how warm the water is, and how bright and beautiful the sunset is! You know darn well I’ll never be able to experience it!”

“I didn’t know! I’m-”

“…because I’m that, darn, stupid! There! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Carol could hear herself grinding her teeth in-between her stuttering breaths. She needed more air now than she did submerged a few minutes ago. Faded vision prompted Carol to blink Lilac into focus, who looked agape, alarmed, and somehow just as tense. Lilac, who had paused in front of her whimpering best friend, remained speechless. She wasn’t about to disagree with her again, that much was clear, but she needed _something_. _Something_ to help the two of them move on. _Something_ to stop Carol from feeling any more useless. _Something_ to provide that would at least mitigate the situation.

…with every moment of crisis, there’s always a hasty, stupid idea.

“…I can teach you.”

**********

Why? Why? _Why?_

Carol socked her pillow as hard and as noisily as she could, venting stress from her head to her fist. Luckily, her bunkmates were already downstairs. Sleeping usually isn’t very difficult for Carol. Her snores are a regular issue for the two other occupants of their shared bedroom. But today? She could barely sleep at all. Today was _the_ day.

Today, Carol was going to learn how to swim.

Why did she say yes? Not even Carol herself knew the answer to that. She always handled tête-à-têtes poorly, but that was hardly an excuse. All she would’ve had to do, was say “no”.

So why was this any different?

Carol let a blistering sigh escape her throat before limply collapsing onto her mattress. Her pillow smooshed on her face, muffling the rest of her complaints. Her hiding ears could still sense a “Breakfast is ready!” from a downstairs Milla, who sung extra loud to catch Carol’s attention. Eventually, the scent of fresh oatmeal rudely invaded her nostrils.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Carol lied. She didn’t particularly care if Milla heard her response. Carol was going to go downstairs whenever Carol wanted to.

The extra time let Carol’s mind reliably shift back into worst-case scenarios. What publicly humiliating object would she find wrapped around herself today? A life jacket? A pool noodle? One of those air-filled donut things? Every new thought betrayed more worry than anger through her clenched jaw and irate furrowed brow. Before she could land another clenched fist on her pillow, three knocks at her door sprang her into a reasonable sitting position.

“I said I’d be down in a second!” Carol insisted, propping herself beside her bunk and tossing her blankets from the floor onto her bed.

“It’s me.” Said a voice from the other side.

It was Lilac’s.

“Oh… hey.”

Lilac’s voice was absent for a couple moments. Thoughts of what to say flooded her head as they were spoken.

“Hey.” Lilac replied.

Immediate silence notified Carol that this meeting was indeed impromptu.

“Are you changing in there?”

“No.”

“Mind if I come in?”

Her voice was loud enough to echo off their small bedroom walls from the outside. Carol’s keen hearing could also pick up the extremely light tapping of one of her hands on the door.

“I already said I wasn’t changing. You don’t need to ask.”

Lilac jostled the doorknob before stepping inside with a bowl in her left hand. Carol’s expression wouldn’t have sunk into a gape if it weren’t for Lilac’s uncharacteristically dismal posture, but a look at Carol’s tussled hair and scrappy appearance washed a soft smile over Lilac’s gloom.

“Milla made us breakfast,” Lilac set the bowl on the nightstand, still warm and steaming, “I thought I’d bring it to you.”

“Thanks.” Carol let the bowl warm her hands but chose not to indulge herself. Lilac scratched the back of her head.

“…I’m sorry if I pushed you earlier. You don’t have to go through with this swimming thing if you don’t want to.” Lilac paused immediately after she spoke. Carol was unsure if it was because she was expecting her to eat, so she stuck a spoonful in her mouth.

“Carol, I’m really-“

“No… it’s fine,” Carol interrupted, “I can tell you want to teach me. If you feel that way, I shouldn’t stop you, right?”

“That _really_ doesn’t sound like you actually want to do it, you know.”

“Feh, I’ll deal with it just fine. What’s a little water here and there?”

Lilac’s soft look faded as the sides of her face tightened. She stuck her hands up, gently grasping Carol’s shoulders.

“You don’t have to lie to impress me,” Lilac’s gaze was apprehensive but sincere, “isn’t that why we got into that stupid argument in the first place?”

“…but I’m not lying this time, really!” Carol bumbled, before she could grab Lilac’s hands and push them off her person. She swallowed the rest of her oatmeal to make herself absolutely clear.

“I’m gonna learn how to do this with you, and that’s final.”

Hearing these words come out of her own mouth made Carol’s gut scream for air. Lying about this felt like poison for her insides, so why was she doing it again? Did she really, truly want to be taught?

Lilac sighed, starting towards the door. She didn’t bother to look back. An accidental tinge of anxiety cracked out of Lilac’s last word before she finally left the room.

“I’ll be outside.” 

**********

“This is stupid.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I’m not a kid, Lilac. I know what water feels like.”

Carol had her arms and legs in a stiff soldier’s position, facing Lilac, who was in the water. Her wide open arms were inviting her inside. Both had returned with the same swimsuits they had yesterday.

“Count your steps!” Lilac insisted.

Carol groaned.

“…Fine.”

Marching towards the water with rigid limbs, Carol’s saggy face completed the look. With every numeric step she took, the less dignity she wore.

“One… two… three…”

Lilac chuckled. Carol’s unenthusiastic look winced gradually as water got closer to her nose. Before long, the lake had all but submerged her face, which was just as lukewarm.

“Okay. That’s ten steps. What now?”

“Dunk your head.”

Surprisingly, Carol did what she was told. She leapt upwards a bit, then fell down to fully envelop her head into the blue. Water whipped the air as she rose to the surface once again.

“Now, stand right there.”

“What? Why?”

Lilac swiftly whirled Carol around, splashing herself in the process. Carol could feel a tight pressure on the back of her head, tinging her eyebrows with confusion. Realizing it was Lilac’s hand that was rummaging through her hair like a bag of candy, Carol couldn’t help but feel tickled. Her fingers prodded Carol’s temples, before sliding underneath and folding her hair. Lilac yanked knots on each ear as delicately as she could, tying the leftovers into small bands. The raw splendor of her own creation made her chuckle.

“There, all better!”

It took Carol’s mental gears a whole three hundred sixty degree turn to realize what she’d done.

“Did you just… _braid_ my hair?”

“It’s called plaiting, and it looks cute on you,” Lilac jested, elbowing her, “Your hair's just long enough for it to work.”

“They’re the _same thing._ God, you sound like Milla.”

Lilac twirled in front of Carol once more, gesturing the locks she wove on her forehead. “Oh, look. We match!” She presented with a cheeky grin, gleaming in artificial surprise.

“Yeah, that’s cool and all, but can I take these off?” Carol twisted herself around to shoot a deafening glare in Lilac’s direction, “ _Now?_ ”

“Of course you can.” Lilac’s eyes shut and arms raised into a shrug. Cracking open her eyelids slightly, an image of Carol gnawing at her braids greeted her pupils. She made sure she gave a small delay before continuing, easing a smirk.

“…unless you hate getting wet hair in your eyes.”

Lilac was right, they were _actually_ going to help. Suffice to say, what followed was one of the noisiest, most exasperated sighs Lilac ever had the pleasure of hearing.

There were a myriad of exercises for the next hour or two. Stretching her abdomen, kicking her feet, moving her arms, holding her breath underwater, and then graduating to all of them at the same time. Moaning and groaning like a zombie before each activity was Carol, who participated nonetheless. Not once did Lilac let her breach that ten-step threshold, she wouldn’t ever let her be completely submerged. But every time Lilac complained like a concerned parent, Carol’s cheeks flushed with a rude combination of embarrassment and exhaustion. Luckily for her, just like last night, nobody else showed. The only person who was watching her learn was Lilac.

She was always beside her.

Cheering, clapping, and giving Carol a playful splash here and there after every event was also her doing. Responding ungratefully, Carol hit her with many patronized eyerolls. Not once did she ever show that Lilac’s enthusiasm eventually did start to grow on her. Hearing that confidence in her felt… genuine. It made her smile when she could hide her face.

Not that Carol would ever, _ever_ admit that.

Eventually, the sun began to set again, just like it did last night. It painted the water a bright mix of crimson and orange. As nightfall reared its head, stars encroached on the dimming skyline.

“It’s getting pretty dark out!” Carol called. She took a cursory glance at the horizon, “You think we should pack it up here?”

Lilac shifted her head towards the dock, where Carol was relaxing.

“Look at you, so eager to leave.”

“Well, doy. I’m hungry, and we’ve been bumming around here for like, seven hours!” Carol’s hair squelched as she groped at it in mild frustration.

“Not gonna argue with you there.”

“Because you can’t. Aren’t you hungry too?”

“Not really.”

A sudden cold breeze fluttered Carol’s towel, so instead of drying the rest of her arms, she wrapped the towel around herself.

“Oh, come on! I’m starting to freeze my butt off out here, Lilac!”

“The water’s nice and warm, thank you very much,” Lilac drew her eyes toward the stars, “I’ll leave after the sun goes down. The sky looks real pretty tonight.”

Sure, the sky is lovely and all, but so is a hot cup of cocoa. And Carol wasn’t going to go home by herself, she covertly despised eating alone, too. When the possibility of having to do so tumbled into her mind, her knees went to jelly. Instinctively, Carol tightened the grip on her towel and stood up straight. It looked like she had two choices: Either watch the sunset, or watch Lilac watch the sunset. Neither of them particularly ideal, given the sudden cold front that threw a wrench into both proposals.

But unbeknownst to Carol, there was a third option she would take. A hasty, stupid idea.

An idea that later made her put the towel down and dip her toe in some water, one last time.

**********

“One… two… three…” Carol whispered to herself.

First, her feet. She kept walking.

“Four… five… six…”

Then, her legs.

“Seven… eight… nine…”

Her arms, shoulders…

“Ten… eleven… twelve.”

She was fully underwater. Her arms cycled like fan blades while her feet wailed from underneath, lifting her head above the surface.

“…Thirteen.”

Then there was nothing; no more ground her feet could rely on. The weight of her own body sent a jolt up her nerves, and she began to feel a pull from underneath. But she still would keep treading forward with grit that refused to leave her clenched jaw. Onward she went, paddling to that girl in the middle of the lake.

Use everything she taught you. _Show her what you’ve learned._

Carol’s eyes fluttered when water splashed inside of them. She could barely look straight ahead anymore, but that was okay. Her braids kept hair from obstructing her face when she did catch a quick glance up ahead. There were no more “steps” left to count, and Carol disliked the mental weight of being on her own again. Reminding herself that her isolation was temporary eased a lot of psychological tension.

As Carol pushed onwards, waves violently swayed her, sliding her away from the shore. The extra pressure wore on her breathing. Before she knew it, she was wheezing. It took exactly ten more seconds for the id to haunt her. Swimming didn’t feel right. Nothing she could do would propel anymore. No matter how many times Carol did a double take, the shore was gone. There was nothing but water surrounding her. Like a rock dropped into a muddy pond, Carol’s heart sank.

It didn’t take long before her toes went completely numb. Despite being surrounded by warm water, her lower half froze like ice.

The enveloping blue made her heart plead for room to beat. It felt as if liquid crushed her chest and slithered into her veins. Excruciating gasp after gasp filled her rapidly emptying chest, keeping her alive. Carol wished she could say anything, shout for help, cry, or make any sort of noise.

This was _just like_ yesterday.

When most of her vital limbs sagged into a complete shutdown, her eyes became the last thing she could use without any pain. Straight ahead, Carol searched for a buoy, a ladder, anything that she could get her paws on, but unsurprisingly, nothing of the sort was going to materialize by praying for its existence. Where was she supposed to go? Where was her _destination_?

_Where was Lilac?_

Above or below, Lilac was nowhere to be found. Carol didn’t have the sufficient energy to holler her name. Was she just a hallucination? Trying to trick her into leaping into the deep end… again?

Carol’s half submerged jaw choked on water, but instead of trying to breathe, she focused on her hands as they struggled to push against gravity. When flailing only descended her head faster, water deafened her as it spilled into her ears. Wailing her torso around as hard as she could was all Carol had left to gain altitude, but in spite of her desperate thrashes, she fell deeper. Now completely sunken, her head felt the same pain as her chest, with water hammering her from overhead.

Her eyes viewed only the blue darkness she had become oh so familiar with yesterday. Despite being completely underwater, her head felt lighter than the rest of her person.

Death’s coin toss would decide whether she would lose her body or her mind first.

Carol didn’t want to die. Not here. Not now.

But the surrounding darkness still didn’t listen.

...somebody else did.

A touch around her limp, weakened body broke the peace. Carol had felt a firm grasp on her stomach. Although her vision was extremely impaired, she could still piece together who it was.

It was her arm.

It was _Lilac’s_ arm.

Carol could barely register the crash of being pierced through the surface of the water; She could barely register anything at all. And before she had the time to, her body was raised above the surface with chest and mouth exposed to open air. Mounting pressure on her stomach emit a croaky exhale as she was lifted. Lilac had her hands on her chest. Once it was strained enough, misty, roaring coughs replenished Carol’s lungs, spraying water back into the lake. Tears trickled down from her inflamed bloodshot eyes as her softened, raspy voice pleaded incomprehensibly for anything her fingers could grasp. Carol cried out three times until exhaustion stole her speaking voice away.

At first, a purple, mangled blur. Fluttering her eyes brought Lilac into focus, who had turned around to face her. Hands slid under Carol’s shoulders, locking her into an intense hug. Only then could her emptied ears begin welcoming her name being called.

“…Carol, Carol, Carol!”

Lilac screamed like she was miles away, but their noses provided about an inch of distance from each other. But no matter how loud the cry, she remained unresponsive. The way Carol’s eyes closed, and the way her head sagged like a ragdoll... it felt as if a bullet was shot clean through Lilac’s heart.

“Hey! …HEY!” Lilac shouted, vigorously rattling Carol’s limp torso.

“Wake up, _wake up!_ ”

A wave of anxious shivering wiped any of her remaining determination. Her words, no matter how numerous they were, weren't going to get her anywhere.

“Say something… please…”

Her tone cracked, shaken, and descending lower in volume. Lilac clung onto her with desperate, glistening eyes, reassuring her as best she could.

“I’m here, Carol.”

It took a couple moments of panting before Lilac shut her eyes too. She leaned into Carol’s face, grazing her forehead and nose together. Close enough to repeat herself, at a whisper’s volume.

“I’m here.”

Unbeknownst to her, Carol was still very much alive. Most things she could still process. She could listen, lightly breathe through her nose, and taste the lake water in the back of her mouth. But she didn’t have enough strength to give any sort of reaction.

**********

After she noticed Carol had been breathing, Lilac treaded water towards the shore for what felt like ages, keeping warm by tightening their embrace. She was going to be there when Carol opened her eyes.

The lake refused to get any colder, despite a clear, cloudless moon that presided over them. Lilac made sure she kept Carol’s temperature stable by keeping her body submerged.

Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like days. It was extremely difficult for Lilac to swim with someone occupying both her arms. Nevertheless, she could see herself treading closer to dry land. The shore revealed itself to Lilac as a speck, brushing against the horizon. She still wasn’t going to make it.

But before she could take a second look, a noise nearly made her stop dead in her tracks.

“…Lilac?”

Carol.

She was awake. She could see everything.

Eyes glued to Carol’s face, and an arm underneath her head, Lilac maintained her hold above the surface. Carol could all but sputter a croaky groan after her first word, so instead of speaking, she grasped her rescuer's shoulder. Lilac tightened her own grip too. She wanted Carol closer to her.

“Carol...” She pleaded, “...I need you to try to hold your breath.”

Carol grit her teeth, sucking air in from her clenched jaw before immediately exhaling in an excruciating cough, spattering mist in the air. Every second sapped strength from Lilac’s legs, still treading from below.

“I… It hurts, Lilac.” She sputtered.

Lilac stiffened her hug in one arm so she could relax her other hand, which she set on Carol’s cheek. The stroke sent tingles down Carol’s spine, bristling her hair like wind on grass.

“We might not make it back if you don’t.” Lilac repeated, anxiety impinging on her eyebrows.

“You'll have to let your hands go and relax all your muscles… it’ll help you float... so I can carry you back home.”

Carol’s ears harshly rejected those words.

Her grasp tightened like Lilac’s shoulders were the edge of a cliff. Her teeth were in the most intense, soul-wrenching grit Lilac had ever seen.

“…No.” Carol breathed.

Tears welled up in Carol’s eyes, refusing to open them again. Despite not being in the position that Carol was, Lilac’s breathing began to stutter and choke. Then her shoulders twitched upwards. Carol had pricked her claws into them.

“You need to trust me… it’s our only way out of this… I-I just-”

She cradled Carol as gently as she could, brushing her braids aside to get a good clean look at her face. The sight of Carol’s lifeless expression elicited Lilac’s first quiet sniffles.

“…I don’t wanna lose you.”

Mouthing her last sentence with glinting eyes, Lilac choked back as much raw emotion she could. But no tears. She could never show those to Carol. She cautiously turned her eyes away as she completed her sentence, it didn’t matter that Carol’s weren’t open.

“I-I wish you could keep holding on… I really wish you could. I need to get you back on my own,” Lilac stammered, “but even if you let go of me…”

Carol felt a single drop on her cheek. She knew it wasn’t rain, or the lake water.

“…I’ll never, _ever_ let go of you.”

Pausing her sentence allowed Lilac to strengthen her grasp in a barren silence. Her legs burnt as she treaded water, but she wanted to stop here. She wanted to stay.

It took Lilac a couple seconds before her eyes opened again. Her pupils were greeted by Carol, who had taken a deep breath; her chest rose about an inch. She had already let go, and all her muscles were limp and fully relaxed, save for her eyelids which were still closed.

She was floating, all by herself.

Before she could waste any more time, Lilac wrapped her arms around Carol’s waist and torpedoed herself towards the shore, swimming faster than she had ever swum in her life. Now that the water was carrying her weight, Lilac was able to assume a modified freestyle stroke, with Carol in her hands.

It was going to be a long, long ride home.

**********

_CRASH!_

“Oops! Sorry!”

The sound of a smash and a voice from the bottom floor entered the treehouse bedroom. Loud noises don’t usually wake Carol up, but this one in particular slapped her sleep right across the face. The sound of dishes shattering always disturbed her, since it was usually _her_ who was responsible for breaking them. Not this time, though.

Squinting her eyes, Carol scanned the bedroom. The two occupants who usually shared it were in the downstairs kitchen, just like yesterday.

Did… did yesterday even happen?

Her ears twitched while she recalled the last twelve hours or so, before her eyes grazed upon her own bedsheets. They were uncharacteristically tidy, showing absolutely no sign of rummaging about, or trying to find a good position last night.

Someone had tucked her in.

 _Lilac_ had tucked her in.

Slapped by the hand of awareness, Carol kicked her sheets aside. She leaped out of bed, plummeting out the bedroom door. Tumbling into the bathroom, she hit the mirror with a deadpan stare that betrayed her own surprise. Her hair, frizzled. Her clothes, changed. Being dry never felt so good.

Carol wasn’t ready to eat breakfast yet, but in the back of her mind, she knew she had to do _something_ before eventually stepping into the kitchen. Without further ado, Carol squeaked the tap on and grabbed her brush.

When she made her way downstairs, Carol kept her eyes toward the direction of the commotion. A noisy kitchen usually meant Milla was cooking, and Lilac was helping her. But instead of seeing the two apron-clad, the food was already done, and they were chatting it up at the table. Milla parted from their conversation to welcome her new guest. Carol took a deep breath.

“Hi, Carol!” Milla glistened, “Welcome… to Cocina de Milla!”

“Heya, Milla.” Carol grinned, “What’s cookin’?”

“Oatmeal!”

She should’ve guessed.

Lilac silently waved to her from across the table. Her smile, warmhearted and inviting.

Carol smiled back and squealed her chair next to her. They were across from Milla, who looked… stunned. A bewildered frown slipped onto her lips, and her stare bore holes into Carol’s face.

“Are those… braids?” Milla was completely and utterly shocked. It seemed like it took Lilac a minute to realize them herself.

“They’re plaits, actually.” Carol responded, index finger pointedly in the air.

She threw Lilac a small grin, which she aptly returned.

“B-but I thought you hated those!”

“I do.”

Watching her confusion intensify drew a soft chuckle from Lilac, prompting Milla to shrug it off and sit back down. A mouthful of oatmeal made her thinking pouts look exaggerated and silly.

Milla wasn’t particularly fond of being laughed at, but come on, it was hard _not_ to. So instead, she changed the subject.

“So… how was your second trip? Was it any fun?”

Impulsively, Carol bit her tongue. Passing time should’ve warned her to be prepared for this question. Her spoon clanged onto the table as it was dropped, and her breathing ground to a halt.

But almost as quickly as she froze, Carol felt warmth.

Her hand.

Lilac was holding it, from under the table.

A muted gasp escaped her agape jaw, just quiet enough to dodge Milla’s eardrums. She gave an unrequited gaze to Lilac, who continued looking straight ahead.

“…I still don’t know where you guys went, I’ve been worried sick.” Milla touched her pointer fingers together.

“O-oh, our trip?” Lilac stuttered, “It was alright, nothing to write home about.” She whirred, offering Milla a warm smile to soothe her worries.

“Is that why you asked me not to come?”

Lilac paused; her thumb felt around Carol’s palm while she searched for an answer.

“Yeah. Um… it was a total snoozefest. We really missed having you around!”

Crafting her words with careful consideration, Lilac made sure she didn’t reveal anything touchy. The longer the silence, the more layers of anxiety her smile coated. She knew that specifics of any kind, no matter how irrelevant they may seem, were going to make Carol ill. Using her words to discourage Milla from asking about them felt like defusing a bomb, like there was a fifty-fifty chance her remarks cut the wrong wire.

“…Oh, okay!”

Rising from her chair, Milla took her empty bowl to the sink, giving Lilac and Carol a moment to share a collective sigh of relief.

“…You’re the best, Lilac.”

“Who, me?”

Carol chuckled. A flowing grin tip-toed it’s way across Lilac’s lips before she playfully tugged at their hold.

“Yes, you… dummy.” Carol chortled, allowing another sigh escape her throat.

All she could do was look to Lilac, who’d been smiling at her the entire time. Their hands were still connected, sending tingles Carol’s way whenever Lilac moved her arm.

“Lilac… I…” Carol stumbled over her words.

“I-I… I feel like…”

Lilac felt her eyebrow raise a few millimeters.

“Well… it’s just that I-”

Her eyebrow sustained that position, Lilac’s head browsing a catalog of sentences that start with the letter “I”.

Oh.

_Oh._

It was _so_ obvious.

Carol’s heart sank after Lilac’s cheeky smile returned.

“Oh, forget about it.” Carol dismissed herself perhaps a little too late.

Lilac kept grinning. She slowly breached her nose closer to Carol’s at an uncomfortable smile distance.

Cheeks wiped with red indignation, Carol failed to pretend she didn’t know the words that were just about to spill out of her own mouth.

“Here, you can say it with me. We can do it together.” Lilac whispered.

“But you don’t know what it-“

“…because it’s true for me too, Carol.” She broke in, placing her hand onto Carol's braids. Her cheeky grin looked way more heartfelt than when it first surfaced.

“I love you too.”

Hearing those words, it made Carol’s heart skip a beat. Her previously irritated scarlet cheeks flushed a bright shade of embarrassing pink.

But before Lilac could add anything else, Carol knocked the wind out of her sails, tackling her into a hug. Lilac needed to refill her lungs before laughing as they spilled onto the floor.

“You’re such a dork, Carol.”

Carol’s ears didn’t catch that last comment, she was too busy cuddling with her arms around her favorite person in the whole world to care.

And this time, Carol didn’t let go.

_**-END-** _


End file.
